Madeleine Albright on multilateralism, foreign aid reform, and the UN

Adva Saldinger, devex.com

Image from article, with caption: "Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state."

Excerpt:

During her [Albright's] time at the State Department ... there were some tense moments with her good friend Brian Atwood, who was the USAID administrator at the time, about how much say she would have on the USAID budget. USAID wanted to be more independent, but Albright was interested in trying to determine how USAID programs fit into overall policy, she said.

She also oversaw the incorporation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency [JB -- see] into the State Department. Some this year have pointed to the merge of USIA into the State Department as an example of how an agencies’ effectiveness and influence can be diminished by being incorporated into the State Department. Albright, however, said she believes that public diplomacy belongs within the state department, but added that they did learn through the process.

“The bottom line that I learned out of all of this is that you spend an incredible amount of time trying to get organizational change instead of doing the work. That is why I am so troubled by what I'm hearing now,” she said.

The issue now is less about this ongoing debate about the relationship between USAID and the State Department, but about the overall foreign aid budget, what funding will be allocated, and what sort of restrictions or conditions may be placed on it and staffing levels, Albright said. ...